Have the battlefields become too commercial?

[salientpoints]

Well I think that this is the inevitable result of progress. Things like the internet make information all the more readily available. Archives are released into the public domain more and more freely these days, authors are able to write books until the cows come home and the information age makes all this easier and cheaper to do. Take for example the 1st World War in Colour that was on C5. This programme was made by recolouring all the b&w film archive by hand over a period of a year or so. Only technology and information has made this possible and it does indeed acheive what it set out to do - that is, it shows us ww1 in colour as the soldiers of the day would have seen it.

Things like this generate further interest and indeed spread the notion that we should never forget. In fact although it has been mentioned here that it is currently fashionable I do not think it will fade that quickly. 2004 is the 90th Anniversary and ten years on will be 100 years of course. OK so only 20 or so veterans survive in this country and they will not see 2014 but 100 years is a landmark and should be appreciated so. We will also see 60years since d-day then a decade later 70, although the MOD has already said it will only recognise VE Day 2005 as the last involvement for itself. Ok so thousands of visitors will cause groundwork damage to battlefields but we only have to look at far older sites like agincourt or waterloo to realise what can be acheived or stonehenge etc to see things can be managed in popular areas.

I was at Hill 62 a few months ago and discussed with a friend how this 'preserved' area must have changed since the tours started in 1918. Whilst I do not agree with cars full of 18-20 year old e-bayers digging up the ground for profit (which I have never seen) I do not think people should be put off visiting these sites. As for schoolchildren, well I think we have to realise that they have no notion of what it must have been like (indeed like us to be honest we have a bias which is why we are writing in here), many will not even have grandparents that saw WW2 so you should understand that. Lets be thankful that some schools still teach the war and the lessons from history. At least a handful from each party may further their experiences and be interested enough that we may see them in here in the future.

The last decade will probably have seen the greatest increase in visitor numbers especially with low cost travel and the channel tunnel.

Who would have thought 50 years ago you could get from the uk to ypres in just over an hour? We should embrace this opportunity to preserve the memory and lets not be afraid of exploitation but exploit the tourists to preserve and maintain the battlefields and memorials of europe.

The Belgian government is pouring hundreds of thousands into revamping the tourist routes and signage for the western front so lets support it and the local museums etc... go see - I know I will!

[Tom Morgan]

Welcome to theForum Ryan. You make some excellent points. In a way we're the victims of our own success, as others have said. For many years, people worked hard in isolation, dreaming of a time when the Remembrance of the Great War would be a much bigger part of our national life than it was before. This aim has been startlingly achieved in all the ways you mention and it has brought changes. We may hanker for the "good old days" but in many ways those days were a time of some uncertainty. We may have to share our favourite battlefield places with more and more people at certain times of the year, but the benefit of this is a stronger future for Remembrance and a stronger voice for those who remember.

(Great website too, by the way.)

Tom

[salientpoints]

Thanks for the welcome Tom.

[Mark Hone]

I've got to admit I've never issued a worksheet on any of my school battlefield tours. As the pupils range in age from 12-18 this would be impossible anyway. We bill it as a 'special interest holiday' but we don't have any sweeteners like visits to Disneyland Paris, as I know some other schools feel they have to to attract pupils to go. It's battlefields, battlefields all the way (Plus time spent with your mates away from home). We never make any secret of what the trip entails but all I can say is that they come back year after year. 80%+ of pupils who go on one of our tours go on at least one more during their time at school, several as many as 5. Why? I don't know but if we've sparked a lasting interest in only a small number of them I'll feel it was worth it.

[AndyHollinger]

IT has been just about two years since my visit to Ypres and Vimy and I can't say they were commercial at all. Frankly, a little commercialism might help preserve some things a bit better. It's not all about the graves - it could be Trenches and the like as well.

It's the old conumdrum Money = Interest. Somewhere a balance must be made - should Disney build a theme park at Manasas (site of the Civil War's first great battle in the East?) ... Been to Gettysburg? Motels and "museums" crowd the fields where Southern Boys had their last great Hurrah!

If it were left to us, the fields would be left and kept the way they were and we could wander and know - teach and listen - But it's not. So there must be a compromise - some sort of commercialism keeps interest afloat with the income generated.

As an American teacher, I would give my eye-teeth (if I had any left) for mandated School trips to historical sites ... the best we get is sometimes an interested High School Teacher might take a group to see the Alamo - but this is not often done because of liability -and of course, which version is going to be taught!

[john kemp]

The school parties will continue to visit the Western Front whilst WW1 is included

in their school work.

The more people that visit the front, the better. If no one visits the front then

Motorways, Airports will become more important.

Also in respect of Lochnagar, there are many people who spend many hours

of their own time keeping the location tidy and raise money to help keep

the site the place it is.

This certainly is not a commercial venture.

JMK